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Ken Feinberg To Clawback 2008 Bonus Money On Friday

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Fox Biz reports that Ken Feinberg, as one of his last ineffectual actions during his soon to be forgotten tenure, will announce on Friday the clawback of various bonuses paid during the 2008 year of ubiquitous bail outs. Since every single bank received some form of assistance in 2008, and many still benefit from the ridiculously low rates on the FDIC-backed TLGP debt (which only has 1.5 years before it matures), it is unclear which banks will be the target of this last attempt to recover some taxpayer money out of the TBTF. Also, since these same banks run the country via their Federal Reserve lobby, it is unclear if and to what extent the Goldmans of the world will agree to this action. As Gasparino reports: "In an interview, Feinberg refused to say
how much money he’s going to ask for or which banks
will be targeted. “I’m aiming for Friday to make an announcement,” he said in an
interview. “The banks will be notified shortly.” Feinberg declined to say whether the five remaining banks -- Citigroup, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America -- would be repaying any of the claw-back money; his mandate covers 418 banks, but people on Wall Street suspect the main focus of his mandate will be the large financial institutions."

More from Fox Business:

In 2008, for instance, Goldman Sachs received $10 billion directly from the federal government, as well as billions more when the feds bailed out AIG (AIG: 35.465, 0.115, 0.33%), which insured some of Goldman’s holdings of toxic debt, yet it paid $4.8 billion in bonuses that year. Even with the various bailouts, Goldman made just $2.3 billion in 2008. But that’s better than Citigroup and Merrill Lynch, which was purchased by Bank of America during the dark days of the financial crisis. Combined, these banks lost $54 billion in 2008, but paid out $9 billion in bonuses.

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley earned $1.7 billion in 2008 with the bailout money, and paid out $4.475 billion; JPMorgan earned $5.6 billion and paid bonuses $8.69 billion that year.

It’s still unclear how banks might repay this money; some people on Wall Street suspect they would be asked to return funds from current profits, rather than ask individuals who received a 2008 bonus to mail a check back to the Treasury Department.

 

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Tue, 07/20/2010 - 13:10 | 479007 Popo
Popo's picture

Why stop at bonuses?  At this point it is 100% clear that mortgage-loan "profits" from 2005 onwards were built on fraudulent earnings.  Financial professionals were paid based upon the amount of "liars loans" they generated.  Since the majority of these loans later collapsed -- why aren't the bread-and-butter earnings (not just the bonuses) of these professionals being clawed back as well?

To *not* claw them back is to reward crime and fraud.

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 13:15 | 479031 John McCloy
John McCloy's picture

+ 1

Thats is right popo as we have found out all of those inflated Wall Street profits and bonuses were merely bad bets and future taxpayer debt waiting to happen.Great deal for Americans huh?

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 13:28 | 479052 Commander Cody
Commander Cody's picture

The GS settlement involves no admission of guilt and no one is going to jail.  So, how can you claw back bonuses, much less salary?  This is political grandstanding bullshit designed to appease Idol watchers.  Party on!

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 13:51 | 479095 Chemba
Chemba's picture

Actually it appears to be pleasing ZH readers, some of whose ignorance and populist moronic nonsense never ceases to amaze me.

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 14:16 | 479159 Lucky Guesst
Lucky Guesst's picture

Who the hell do we actually go after? The bonuses were the payoff for processing the lies for the banks. The bank profits were the payoff for adhering to political policy that didn't make financial sense. The political votes were the payoff for implementing policies for activists. Freebies were the payoff to citizens for following the activists commands. The rest of us got screwed for having our head up our *ss and not putting a stop to it.

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 15:02 | 479256 Milestones
Milestones's picture

I like the way the way you think and talk. Right on.  Milestones

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 22:21 | 480180 Monday1929
Monday1929's picture

Chemba, you prefer well informed fascists?

Actually, this is big, if true. I was a lonely voice calling for this for past years.

These people would rather go to jail than give back their fraudulently obtained bonuses.

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 13:31 | 479061 Rainman
Rainman's picture

Too bad we can't also claw back the votes and gubermint pay for the many elected Critters who were paid off to enable the fraud. Then, for good measure, clawback the jobs and salaries of regulators who pulled a Sgt. Schultz and knew nothing.

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 13:52 | 479097 suckapump
suckapump's picture

I wonder how the world would be different if congress members were fiduciaries to US taxpayers. Imagine if they could be held personally liable for waste and breaches of the duties of care, of loyalty, and to avoid self-dealing. Better yet, imagine if they were to be treated in the eyes of the law as trustees where the taxpayers were both the settlors and the beneficiaries. This is probably closer to what the forefathers had in mind with the whole "tax and spend" for the "general welfare" clauses.

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 13:47 | 479089 buzzsaw99
buzzsaw99's picture

plus infinity

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 13:08 | 479008 Careless Whisper
Careless Whisper's picture

stockholders will pay. nothing to see here. move along.

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 13:10 | 479016 Peterpaul
Peterpaul's picture

Don't tease me!

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 13:13 | 479024 unwashedmass
unwashedmass's picture

 

laughable. i'm sure lloyd and jamie are going agree to this. if they care at all...down peasant, down.

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 13:14 | 479026 I am a Man I am...
I am a Man I am Forty's picture

so this is why gs didn't make any money this quarter, hiding it from feinberg

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 13:17 | 479037 NOTW777
NOTW777's picture

recycle may be more fitting then clawback;  ben gives taxpayer $ to banks for free; banks use that free $ to show up at auctions, feed the HFT machines and lend some out at 20%; for public appearance, banks then recycle some back to the fed so obama can score political points.  no yachts being sold here, just some shell game action.

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 13:18 | 479038 ZackAttack
ZackAttack's picture

While we're revisiting 2008, let's set the Wayback Machine and also reconsider that whole TARP thing.

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 13:19 | 479039 Fritz
Fritz's picture

This is a joke , right?

 

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 13:22 | 479044 SheepDog-One
SheepDog-One's picture

Banks will just say 'NO', then what? Give back their bonuses will be requested by Feinberg? This has got to be a practical joke, right?

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 13:26 | 479048 earnyermoney
earnyermoney's picture

This is political posturing by Obama. Trying to give vulneralble democrats who voted for all the bailouts cover for this falls election. Request will be dropped on Nov. 3rd.

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 13:38 | 479074 Baron Robber
Baron Robber's picture

bingo

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 14:06 | 479128 TheGoodDoctor
TheGoodDoctor's picture

Yup. That and suing the tea party as being racist. That's smart too. /sarcasm off

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 13:54 | 479066 firstdivision
firstdivision's picture

Things are about to get very interesting if he does demand that. 

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 13:37 | 479073 buzzsaw99
buzzsaw99's picture

what about the 2009 stock options courtesy of zirp?

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 13:38 | 479075 anony
anony's picture

They'll  agree to give back their bonuses IF by Christmas they receive new bonuses in that amount plus interest, as well as their usual christmas stocking stuffer.

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 13:45 | 479084 seventree
seventree's picture

Clawback, that's a strong word from a toothless declawed pussycat.

Feinberg will be lucky if they will deign to piss on his shoes.

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 13:45 | 479085 John McCloy
John McCloy's picture

Markets almost back to flat..what happened did the recession end again?

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 14:19 | 479167 Greater Fool
Greater Fool's picture

Yup. Parade of bunny rabbits happening right now on Wall. Rainbows over stock exchange. Beautiful! Wish you could see it!

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 13:48 | 479090 jtmo3
jtmo3's picture

Good luck to him. It's probably just for show anyway.

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 13:53 | 479098 Lucky Guesst
Lucky Guesst's picture

Bullsh*t. They can't go after individuals unless they are prepared to take them each to court separately. Congress cannot write laws that go after specific citizens.

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 14:18 | 479164 pitz
pitz's picture

Congress created the H1-B program that has pretty much only targetted America's brightest IT workers, replacing them with illiterate Indian nationals on guest visas.

So I don't have any sympathy for the individuals targetted by Congress.

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 14:18 | 479165 Chemba
Chemba's picture

My response to Ken Feinberg when he asks for my 2008/2009 bonuses:

"Get your paws off of me, you dirty, stinking ape!"

followed shortly thereafter by:

"You can have my bonus, when you pry it from my cold dead fingers"

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 22:27 | 480186 Monday1929
Monday1929's picture

It's not "your" bonus. It came courtesy of your limo driver, your waiter and your gardener. You are subsidized welfare trash- you know, the kind you spit upon.

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 14:31 | 479185 Clayton Bigsby
Clayton Bigsby's picture

What a bunch'a populist bullshit - this administration is as fucking corrupt as any of the banksters as they keep inventing shit to "go get them damn banks" - I for one cannot wait till elections - every fuckhole politician voted down should get 50 lashes with razorwire on the way out the door - fucking cunts

that's all I have to say about that ;-)

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 14:36 | 479194 wang
wang's picture

a hint from this Bloomberg article

Obama Paymaster Feinberg Says Clawbacks Are ‘Not a Great Idea’

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=asYhEhBUzk.I

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 15:12 | 479284 P-K4
P-K4's picture

This is just another episode of the daily soap opera entitled, "The Guiding Blight."  DC has taken a chapter out of Hollywood's book on staging fiction to look like fact. Other Czars producing soap operas;

Afghanistan Czar - One More Life to Give

Climate Czar - As The World Burns

Drug Czar - General Hopsital For Everybody

Information Czar - All My Little Children

Guantanamo Closure Czar - The Young & Arrestless

 

As previously stated, "nothing to see here - move along."

 

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 16:06 | 479500 Sqworl
Sqworl's picture

Brilliant and very funny and sad...:-)

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 17:01 | 479692 The Alarmist
The Alarmist's picture

And here is how the banks will handle it ... just like the excise tax on golden parachute payments, the banks will simply add the clawed back amount to this year's comp and gross up this year's salary to cover the added taxes.  Retention problem solved.

Don't we all feel better?

 

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 21:07 | 480102 nmewn
nmewn's picture

Would it be too much to ask for clawback from those who gave it to them in the first place?

Never mind. What was I thinking. Carry on.

 

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